FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SANDRA DAY O CONNOR - PAGE 4

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court on Jan. 24, officials announced Monday night, and the full Senate will begin debate the next day. In a written statement, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said he looks forward to a "fair up-or-down vote" swiftly on Alito, President Bush's choice to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito, 55, a federal appeals court judge, appears assured of approval in the committee, where all 10 Republicans have indicated their support.

I am so amazed that people are so crazy, saying that our country is in trouble with Samuel Alito Jr. replacing Sandra Day O'Connor. Here is an immigrant's son who worked and studied to get where he is today. He didn't have his last name buy him into schools, get him out of trouble with the law or gain a political seat for him. Instead he did what most Americans do: He worked hard. The world is not going to end and Alito will interpret the law just as he always has--in a fair and intellectual manner.

Court says prisoners can't be segregated The Supreme Court has ruled that state prisons cannot segregate inmates by race even temporarily except under the most extraordinary circumstances. The 5-3 decision Wednesday set aside a lower court ruling for California that said prisons should have wide leeway to impose race restrictions for safety reasons. Since the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954, the court has held that racial classifications by the government are usually unacceptable.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to require special treatment for young people under questioning by police, ruling 5-4 against a 17-year-old interrogated for two hours without being told of his rights. The justices voted to reinstate Michael Alvarado's murder conviction and said police have no obligation to treat younger suspects differently from adults. Alvarado gave incriminating statements to police after his parents brought him to a California police station. He was sentenced to 15 years to life.

Commerce Department chief: Businesswoman Barbara Franklin was sworn in as secretary of commerce and told President Bush, "I`m really thrilled to be on your team." Franklin, the second woman to head the Department of Commerce in its 89-year history, was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O`Connor. Franklin, who has served on the boards of seven major corporations, was one of the first women to graduate from Harvard Business School. Bush said she will be "an evangelist for a strong economy fueled by growth."

Congratulations to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O`Connor and her colleagues Blackmun, Marshall and Stevens who voted against banning abortion information at federally funded family planning clinics. Abortion, although it may be an option of last resort, is an option for terminating pregnancy. Everyone is entitled to knowledge of it. Proscribing this information to particular groups, as the majority Supreme Court vote has just done to those who use federally funded clinics, is discrimination and an invasion of civil rights.

- Tom Brokaw became only the second journalist to be honored with the prestigious West Point Sylvanus Thayer Award Thursday. Past recipients include Gen. Douglas MacArthur, former President Ronald Reagan, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite. - Paul McCartney's "Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart)," a new classical work for chorus and orchestra, will premiere at Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 3. "Ecce Cor Meum" is McCartney's fourth classical album. ---------- The Personals page was compiled by Cheryl Bowles from Tribune news services and staff reports.

On Sept. 21, 1792, the French National Convention abolished the monarchy. In 1866 novelist H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, England. In 1938 a hurricane swept over parts of New York, New Jersey and New England, claiming 700 lives. In 1973 Henry Kissinger was confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state. In 1981 the Senate confirmed Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female justice on the Supreme Court. In 1982 National Football League players began their first regular-season strike after contract talks collapsed.

On July 7, 1754, King's College opened in New York City. (In 1784 it became Columbia University.) In 1801 Toussaint L'Ouverture proclaimed Haiti's independence from France. In 1887 Russian painter Marc Chagall was born. In 1898 the U.S. annexed Hawaii. In 1930 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, died at age 71. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan said he would nominate Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O`Connor issued a last-minute order blocking the $2.5 billion merger of the Lucky and Alpha Beta supermarket chains in California until the full court can consider an appeal by state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp. The merger was to have taken place Monday. Alpha Beta's parent, American Stores Co., says California customers will save $50 million to $60 million from the merger because of increased efficiency. But Van de Kamp contends that a decrease in competition would raise prices by $400 million a year.